(June 9, 2010) Amnesty International has condemned Wednesday’s court decision to uphold a five year sentence imposed on a Chinese activist who tried to publicize the number of children who died during the Sichuan earthquake and the corruption that led to their deaths.
It’s official: global warming solutions will destroy the environment
(June 8, 2010) Solutions to solve global warming may actually cause more environmental damage.
Trampled under the foot of development: Chinese citizens fight for fair compensation
(June 4, 2010) Chinese citizens being forcefully evicted from their homes are continuing their fight to receive fair compensation from developers and local officials. A month after homeowners were pushed from their homes to make way for the Pubugou dam reservoir in China’s Sichuan province, 700 homeowners in Beijing’s Laogucheng neighbourhood are refusing to leave—even as they face assaults by window-smashing thugs—until they receive fair compensation from a powerful developer.
Three Gorges: Privatizing the profits, socializing the costs
(June 3, 2010) A recent restructuring by China’s Yangtze Power Co., the Shanghai-listed subsidiary of the Three Gorges Project Development Corporation, will see the company acquire full ownership of the only profitable part of the controversial dam—the generators—while assuming little-to-none of the environmental and social costs.
Standing tall: New oral history shows citizens taking a stand for Beijing’s rivers
(June 1, 2010) Beijing, once famous for its sweet spring water and clear-flowing rivers is now infamous for its polluted canals and dried up riverbeds. But one small river, that once suffered decades of insults and was among the city’s dirtiest, is making a comeback.
Landslides and seismic activity rock Three Gorges reservoir
(June 1, 2010) As the rainy season arrives and the Three Gorges reservoir is lowered, the controversial project is once again making headlines. This time, it’s because of the increasing number of landslides and seismic activity occurring along the 410-mile long reservoir.
Yangtze! Yangtze! Named one of the best books about water
(May 28, 2010) In a recent interview, Johnny Grimond, a writer-at-large for The Economist said Dai Qing’s “Yangtze! Yangtze!” was one of the best books about water. Mr. Grimond said that Ms. Dai “has written courageously about China’s dams and rivers.”
Power taken from the people: UN carbon scheme threatens to ‘recentralize’ forest governance, spelling doom for forest ecologies
(May 18, 2010) A carbon emissions program created by the United Nations and financed by the UN and development institutions may strip forest use and management from citizens in the developing world, writes Brady Yauch.
Belize’s power company says it’s not making enough
(May 17, 2010) Belize’s sole electricity provider, Belize Electricity Limited (majority-owned by Newfoundland-based Fortis), continues to be one of the country’s highest-earning companies, bringing in more than $186-million revenue last year. Yet its net profit is far smaller–just $8.9-million. Now the company is saying that’s not enough.
Hot wind in the desert
(May 13, 2010) The Chinese county of Guazhou, in north-western China, is famous for its honey melons. But it also produces wind. It blows in from the east through the high, narrow valley formed by the Qilian and Beishan mountains, on the southern edge of the Gansu Corridor.
The Offsetters’ Paradox: Wind mills in China highlight incurable problem with international carbon credits
(May 7, 2010) Carbon credits given to Chinese wind projects are part of a much larger problem with the UN’s carbon market, writes Brady Yauch.
Carbon market may turn subprime, says expert
(May 3, 2010) The carbon market may suffer a fallout similar to what happened recently to the subprime market in the United States.
Beijing’s never-ending thirst
(April 14, 2010) Ongoing delays to the South-North Water Diversion Project will defer the delivery of one billion cubic meters of water annually over the next four years to Beijing. Now, a number of analysts in Beijing are offering suggestions on how the city should cope with its water crisis. Wang Jian And Liu Qiong, two Beijing-based water experts, say the city must ease the subsidies for water consumption to ensure that the price reflects its true cost, while implementing policies that promote the recycling of water and efficient use.
Beijing’s mirage: A water park in a water-starved city
(March 4, 2010) As Beijing’s water crisis continues to worsen, government officials say they intend to transform the city’s famed Olympic Water Cube into a massive water park, featuring seven-story water slides and a wave machine. Operators of the stadium say the project will cost 200-million yuan ($29-million).
Foreign aid takes another blow–this time in Australia
(March 3, 2010) Criticism of the high salaries being offered to contractors working with AusAID, Austrialia’s national aid agency, is the latest example of the increased scrutiny facing aid agencies around the world. The criticism comes after a recent audit showed that a number of aid workers are earning more money than the country’s Prime Minister. And they’re doing so tax-free.
Patricia Adams
Dai Qing
Fan Xiao
Lawrence Solomon
Mu Lan
Probe International
Lisa Peryman
Probe Media
Other News Sources
Probe International 